Salmonjunkies

Photo : Steffen JuhlIntervIew : Pool 32 Mag

Steef, you began your “career as a Salmon Junkie” many years back, but where and how did it all begin?

IheldaflyfishingrodinmyhadthefirsttimewhenIwas12yearsold,fish ingintheDanishriversandsmallcreeks.Itwas“loveatfirstsight”andafter acoupleofyearsIfoundmyselfinvolvedintheDanishSportsFishingAsso- ciation,whichleadtoaeducationasaflyfishinginstructor.

Being a devote salmon fisher isn’t exactly a normal job, do you ever miss a regular 9 - 5 job situation?

No!!-Iusedtoworkaregularjob.BackthenIworkedasafirefighterinCo- penhagen.Itwasajobwithaveryflexibleworkschedule,whichopenedup forthepossibilitytochangemyworkingdays.Thiswasthebeginningofmy flyfishingadventureanditmadeitpossibleformetocombinethesetwo worlds. InthebeginningIenjoyeditbutafterawhileitbecameabitfrustratingto combinethesetwodifferentworlds.Itbecamealifefullofcontrasts.One dayIwasfishingonanexcitingandveryexclusivebeatorflyingaroundina Helicopterscoutingrivers,thennextIwasbackhomeinmynormal9/5 again,soit’sbeenatuffprocessovertheyears,notalwaysasglamorousasa lotofpeopleoftenthink.

onfessions of a salmon Junkiec“ “

SteffenJuhl100%Addicted-“hopeless case”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Junkie or Junky may also refer to:

• A person suffering from drug addiction most commonly used to refer to a heroin addict.

• Also used as a hyperbolic expression for a person with a par-ticularly strong enthusiasm for some activity, e.g. “a TV junk-ie”, “a ski junkie” or the worst case ”a salmon junkie”

Having caught and released more than 2500 salmon, makes you a very ex-perienced salmon fisher Steff, and it really makes me want to “pick you brain” for relevant salmon secrets. I was once told by a fellow salmon fisher, that most of his takes were happening close to the river bank.Tell me Steff what is your experience regarding the “take it self”. Do you see some kind of pattern or is it just a pure coincidence when and where a salmon take the fly?

Well,it’salwayshardtosaybecauseitchangesfromonerivertoa other.Butitisessentialtobeabithumbleandlistentothelocals/Fish ingguides,whenyouarefishinganewriver.Theyknowwhatisgoingonin theirbackyard.Myexperiencetellsmethatthetakeoftenhappensinthelast 2/3oftheswing.Orwhenyoustartstripingtheflyattheendoftheswing.

What about the presentation of the fly it self, any good advises for our read-ers?

Firstofalleverybodywhowant’stocatchasalmonmustbeabletocastde cently-notnecessarilyaverylongcast,butadecentandstraightcastThe flyhasto“Fish”assoonithitsthewater.Thenitisveryimportantto“read andunderstandthewater”youarefishing,anddon’tbeafraidtotrysome thingnewoutthere.Andmakesuretheflyisfishingrightawaybylettingthe leaderstretchoutcompletelyineverycast.Salmonfishingisapieceofin tensework,nomatterwhereintheworldyouareapproachingthesefish.

“From Pocc with love”n r

“This place is instant addiction”

UnknownSalmonJunkie

KåreLundquist99,9%Addicted-“still a bit of hope left”

“Life is hard - and then we die”

“Salmon drugs & Rock’n Roll”

Theboy’swiththeirtoy’s

Bearcountry

No doubt water temperature is essential when it comes to salmon fishing, but would you say there is a perfect weather condition and water tempera-ture for salmon fishing in general?

Inmyopinionyoushouldalwaystrytofishtheflyfastwhenthewatertem peratureisover8-9degrees.Speedisveryimportantintheseconditions. Castyouflyacrosstheriverina90degreesangleinsteadofthetraditional 45degrees,itwillincreasethespeedofyourflysignificantly.Butwhenthe watertemperatureisbelow8degreesthenyouhavetofishyourflyslowly withheavierlines.

I believe there is just as many theories about how to approach salmon fish-ing, as the amount of fly fishers. But when it comes to fly lines which combi-nation do you use most of the time?

Floatinglinewitha10ft.fastsinkingpolyleaderplusmax3ft0,35mmnylon.

Being a camp manager in Russia for so many years must have been quite an experience. How would you describe the situation today compared to when you first set your foot in Russia?

Inthe“olddays”20yearsback,everythingwasVERYdifferentinRussia.I rememberasituationbackthen,whenthekitchenservedabowloffruitfor someofourguests.TheRussiansweworkedwithhadneverseenabanana before,whichdescribesthesituationwewereinatthattime.Itwaslikewe Westernerscamefromanotherplanet.

Sometimeitalsocreatedalotofproblemsforus.Thingsweren’talwaysas youexpectedthemtobe.Todayeverythinghaschangedinaverypositive direction.ThemiddleclassinRussiaisgrowing,andthegenerallevelof wealthishigherthaneverbeforeinRussia. Intheoldday’swecouldhireahelicopterforawholedayforonly200$and acandybar-todayitwouldcost20-30.000$sothingshaschangedalot sincebackthen.

As you know Pool 32 also focuses on environmental issues as well as fly fish-ing issues, simply because I believe that our world is changing rapidly, and salmon stock world wide, are under a lot of pressure. How do you se the fu-ture for the wild salmon world wide?

Well,Norwayisaperfectexampleofhowthingsshouldn’tbehandled.They reallyhavespoiledalotoftheirbeautifulriversoverthelast15-20years.But therehasalsobeenmadesomereallypositiveactionsworldwide,likethe NASF ( www.nasfworldwide.com). ThisfunddoessuchafantasticjobandwhatOrriVigfussonhasachievedso farisunbelievable.Thisisexactlythekindofawarenessweneed-andinspi rationaswell.

Ireallyhopenewsalmonanglersunderstandthatgoodsalmonfishingdoesn’t comebyitself.Theseamazingfishisunderavery,veryhardpressureeve rywherefromfishfarmingindustry,highseaoverfishing,pollution,illegalnet ting,Hydroelectricdams,etc. Thenewgenerationofsalmonfishershastobefullyaware,thattheycannot justleanbackandexpecteverythingtobeperfectinafutureperspective.It isahardfight,everyday,everyhour-everywhere!

llegal netting is a growing problem in a lot of rivers world wide. How would you describe the situation in Russia?

IllegalnettingisalsoaprobleminRussia,likesomanyotherplaces.Butin Russiaiteasiertofightthepoachingcomparetothewest,aswedon’thave thesamedemocraticrulesashereinDenmark-andthatsavessalmon-be lieveme.Besidesthatheyareshowingsomeparliamentarydetermination.

Are you involved in any conservation projects in Russia?

YesI’minvolvedinaprojectwherewehaveremovedtheillegalnetsinthe lowerpartofUmba.Wehavemadeadetailedplan2yearsago,whichspecify exactlywhatshouldbedone24/7allyearround.Thishasmadethecondi tionsmuchharderfortheillegalnettingsandtheresultsareverypositive.“A riverwithoutfriendswillfinditselfunprotected”-butUmbahasalotof friends,andI’moneofthemasyouprobablyareawareof. UmbaismyfavoriteriverinRussia.It’sveryuniqueandhasitall.It’satypi calforrestriver,verybeautifulwithseveraldifferentrunsandinUmbayou alwayshavethechanceofcatchingareallytrophyfishfromMaytillOctober. BesidesthatUmbaoffersalongseasonwithseveralruns,it’seasytocast, easytoread,nottobig,nohelicopterisneededtogetaround.Butthefishin Umbaisalsosomethingveryspecial. Thesefallfisharedesignedtostayintheriverforupto18monthswithout feedingsotheyareinverygoodconditionwhentheyentertheriver.Fallis puremagicinUmba,withsomeamazingcolorseverywhere.Onlytworiverin Russiahavetheselateautumnruns-UmbaandPonoi-butinUmbathefall fishgethuge

“Salmon Junkies” is a great name - a name you remember and also a very descriptive name, everybody who loves salmon fishing knows exactly how addictive this sport is. What’s the story behind this name?

WellweAREtrueSalmonjunkies(biglaugh)soitjustcamenatural–weare “thinkingSalmon”twenty-fourhoursaroundtheclock No,honestlyIthinkwewereinspiredbytheBCsteelheadflyfishingcommu nity,theyhaveagoodtimeupthereandIreallyliketheirapproachandatti tudestothegame.

It seems like Russia have “seen the light” and made C & R mandatory from the beginning, something other countries could learn a lot from. What is your experiences with C & R ? - do you see it as the way of the future on the in-ternational fly fishing scene?

Ithinkit’saverygoodwaytohelpthewildsalmonstocks,andI’mpracticing C&RinnearlyeverycatchImake,buttobehonestIsometimesthinkit’sa bitto“black&white”.Ifafishiscaughtinthegillsordeepdownthethroat itwilldie,sotoendthesufferinginsuchsituations,Ithinkit’sOKtotakea life,minimum9outof10fishsurviveC&R. Butinaholisticperspective,Ihaveastrongbelievethatbiologistsshouldfol lowarivercloselyandestimatehowthestocksshouldbetreated.Thatway youleaveittopeoplewhoknowswhattheyaredoing. Wecannotjustharvestallthetime,wealsohavetonurse,andprotectour natureresources.C&Rareanexcellenttooltochangeinapositivedirection, resultsfromallovertheworld,showsclearlythatC&Rsecureaverybigpart oftheannualruns.

I spend a week in Iceland two years ago, here dry fly with fishing with a “ri-fling hitch” gave salmon fishing a whole new meaning to me. Have you prac-ticed any dry fly fishing in Russia?

It’sdefiantlypossibletocatchasalmononadryflyinRussia.EndofJuneto midAugust,aresovereignforthiskindofpresentation.Watertemperature around+10degreesaclearandlowwaterlevel,makestheconditionsperfect fordryflyfishing.

You have been fishing in so many exciting places, others just dream about so I have to ask you which one is your favorite river?

AsImentionedUmba-Thatriverhasstolenmyheartandsoul.InDenmark itisSkjernå,especiallynowwithalltheverypositiveresultsshowing.

I really like your photos Steff. You have a very good eye for composition and when to convert a photo into the very powerful black and white expression. I always carry my Canon with me when I’m fishing, and sometimes I prefer to shoot pictures instead. How would you describe your relations the photo-graphic side of fly fishing?

Ilovetoshootpictures,andit’sbeensomethingIhavepracticedsinceI where13yearsold.ImeetaDanishguycalledBentSchultzbyoneofthe Danishrivers,andhebecameasortofmentorforme.Benthadshootsome fantasticphotos.Ilearnedalotaboutfromhimandwebecamegoodfriends.

Last question Steff - do you have anything you want to add to this interview? - any wishes for the future of salmon fishing?

Mybiggestwhichforthefuturewouldbethatpeoplereallywillunderstand howimportantitistosupporttheorganizations,fundsandeventhesmalllo calassociations,intheirworktohelpandpreservewildsalmonworldwide. Ifearwhatwillhappeninthefuture,whenpeoplelikeOrriVigfussononeday pullsout.Whowilltakeoverhisplaceandfollowhisfootsteps?Thatguy rocks!!

Weallhavetorealizethatonlybyreallydoingsomething,participatingand supportingsomeofthegreatworkbeingdoneoutthere,onlythenwewill stillbeabletoenjoythepresencesofwildsalmoninthefuture.Butitwillal waysbeanongoingbattleandwecannever“justleanback”andtakewild salmonforgranted.

IworkedwiththeDanish SportsFishingAssociation(DSF)formanyyearsand ittaughtmethatnothingcomesbyitself.Ifitwasn’tforDSFwewouldn’t haveseentheprogressinSkjernÅandmanyotherDanishrivers,asweare witnessingtoday.

FamousSalmonanglerLeeWulffoncesaid:“Asalmonistovaluable,onlyto becaughtonce”!!-itsaysitall.

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“I’ve heard that salmon fishing is as addictive as crack.... I think I could give up crack”

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